Need help - Jackson Chameleon can not use tongue?

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - species - Jackson dwarf
Sex - male
age - was told 6 months
How long has it been in your care - 3 days

• Handling - never yet but to put him in the cage
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? - Crickets and Superworms
What amount? 6 total items per day
What is the schedule? Put them all in the cage once in the evening
How are you gut-loading your feeders? not.

• Supplements - None. Petco said they dust with calcium.

• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Waterfall
How often and how long to you mist? Spray bottle twice a day
Do you see your chameleon drinking? No

• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Nothing yet.
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No.

• History - none. Got him from the Westchester county reptile show sep11th

Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Glass screen cover aprox 2' *1'*1' - will change soon
• Lighting - UVB bulb
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? 75-80
Lowest overnight temp? 70
How do you measure these temps? Thermometer

• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? 60-80%
How are you creating and maintaining these levels? natural
What do you use to measure humidity? Hygrometer

• Plants - Are you using live plants? Not sure. Will change soon

• Placement - Where is your cage located? Den of my house
Is it near any fans, No air vents, No, or high traffic areas? Yes.
At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? 4'

• Location - Where are you geographically located? downstate NY



My new Jackson Chameleon will not shoot out his tongue? he is tring to grab crickets with his mouth? he has not eaten in two days. Do I need to feed him with a tweezer? Do breeders force feed so they never learn how to use their tongue? He is about 5" head to tail. Please help...

hey i have a cham with no tounge and i hand feed him everyday..
just take a cricket by the but and hold it out and let your cham grab it from you fingers.
i did have to force feed my guy for a bit..

do you have any idea why he isnt useing his tounge?

i would fill out the "how to ask for help" form here https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

hoj

We need more information to help. Is this a baby? Have you ever seen it shoot the tongue? Where did you get the cham? What history do you have about it? Shooting their tongue to catch prey is instinctive and won't be affected by a breeder hand feeding them. They won't shoot their tongue because they can't...the tongue could be injured, bitten off, or the cham has a nutritional deficiency that is interfering with the muscle. A very dehydrated cham won't shoot well or eat, so your first concern is to make sure the cham is drinking normally. If the tongue dehydrates, the glands that produce the sticky surface on the tip do not work correctly and prey won't stick to it.

I had a small liter of Jaksons born last December, and the female of the group has never been able to use her tongue effectively. I had to moisten my fingertip and stick pinheads and micro sized mealworms to it and feed her from my fingertip. She slowly gained some strength, but she still can't use it normally. I have to hand feed her to make sure that she gets something to eat everyday. I didn't know if it was something attributed to diet or if it was an injury, but I almost believe that she is blind in one eye. She will not acknowlege a feeder if I offer it from her right side. Her eye will not track it or anything, but when I move it around to her left side, she immediately starts trying to extend her tongue what little that she can. Strange thing. You'll have to offer it food from your fingers so it doesn't have to try and chase its food down.

It's not a baby. He is around 6". Horns are all 3/4 to 1" long. I will post a picture. I just fed him 2 super worms and 2 crickets with a tweezer. I sprayed him once with a water bottle, and when he opened his mouth i touched his mouth with a food item. he ate it up. I also sprayed a small amount of water in his mouth once to make sure he has water today. I have a water fall but have never seen him drink. he does clime on it. I only have him for two days. I got him at the westchester county reptile show sunday morning. Forgot the vendors name.

He is not blind. He was tracking the crickets well. He would follow them around, then lash out and try to grab them with his mouth. didn't know a chameleon could move that fast. Just will not shoot out his tongue...

Hope he starts to eat on his own. I am open to any ideas...

Picture...

I wouldn't spray water in its mouth...it might aspirate it.
I don't use waterfalls...they are hard to keep clean.

Just a fine mist on his tongue. Not anywhere near enough to drown him.

I have also sprayed the branches so it drips, but have not seen him drink that way either. Any other suggestions?

filling out the "how to ask for help" form would really help people see and figure out what may be going on.

to my knowledge mbd has this sytom but he dont appear to have mbd unless thats just a start to it. try giving him some natural sunlight if you can and see if it helps. do u use calcium with d3? and does anyone know if this is common for young chams all the ones that i have seen it in are not so little.

I think he could use some more leaves. Then you could set up a dripper that drips water on the leaves, cascading down and around (it works!). He might be more likely to drink water he sees falling onto the leaves.

I really think it would help to fill out the How To Ask For Help form.

Just copy, paste into a reply, type in your responses.

Without that, you'll be faced with all those questions eventually.

For instance, I really want to know how long you have had him (you say "new"...is that a month, a week?).

My Jackson's don't drink unless their cage is wet and the mister has been going for several minutes so I'd suggest making sure you have some sorta of a dripper set up and mist the cage so the humidity is up and do it twice a day to make sure he is hydrated. You just got him so always a first concern...hydrate. As was said, if he's dehydrated, he can't use his tongue. He still wants to eat so that's a good thing. Good Luck!!

Rudy said:

Added "How To Ask For Help" info in original post as requested.

Click to expand...

It is VERY important to gutload your feeders. Here is a link to a blog that talks about what to gutload. (Not my blog. It belongs to Sandrachameleon.)

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Petco may dust them with calcium, but by the time they get to your cham, it is probably all, or mostly gone. Calcium without D3 is needed every day, calcium with D3 is needed twice a month, and a multivitamin is also needed twice a month. Im not exactly sure how often vitamin A is needed, though. Im switching to Repashy calcium plus, which incorporates all of those in one, that is also able to be used daily.



Waterfalls tend to gather a lot of bacteria, and are not good for your cham. You can keep it if you want. Its your cage, after all. However, most would recommend to remove it. You should get a dripper to replace the waterfall.

Just to be on the safe side, you should get a fecal exam done as well.

As for lighting, do you have a basking light, or just a UVB light? He needs two separate bulbs. One for UVB, and one to bask.

You'll be getting a lot of advice on changes, however, I wanted to say that it's not unusual for a chameleon to go off its food for a few days, even a week, after being moved to a new enclosure.

thing look pretty good, i would possibly supplement with calcium wo/d3 at most as suggested and use a product like reptivite w/d3 maybe 3 times a month, the reptivite has lower levels of d3 and containd vit a witch i find to be benificial to my chams overall health and has been know to slove some tounge issues..
i would start gutloading your feeder asap and there is alot of great info on that subject through out the forum just use the search.
also for the most part members avoid waterfalls they are a breeding groung fr bacteria if not meticouisly cleaned and chams dont really seem to drink from them, i would prob remove that and look into a mist system to aid in hydration.

how is the lil guy doin today? by the way

Hoj said:

thing look pretty good, i would possibly supplement with calcium wo/d3 at most as suggested and use a product like reptivite w/d3 maybe 3 times a month, the reptivite has lower levels of d3 and containd vit a witch i find to be benificial to my chams overall health and has been know to slove some tounge issues..
i would start gutloading your feeder asap and there is alot of great info on that subject through out the forum just use the search.
also for the most part members avoid waterfalls they are a breeding groung fr bacteria if not meticouisly cleaned and chams dont really seem to drink from them, i would prob remove that and look into a mist system to aid in hydration.

how is the lil guy doin today? by the way

Click to expand...

He looks fine. Just hanging out. Sleeps alot.

I will try and feed him again in a bit, but i have a feeling something is wrong with his tongue. It's like all he knows is to go after the crickets and try to bite them. Other than that, he is in great shape, but this is a big issue.

Rudy said:

He looks fine. Just hanging out. Sleeps alot.

Click to expand...

If he is sleeping during the day, it is not a good sign.

As already mentioned, you need to gut load your feeders and you need to use supplements. Vitamin and calcium deficiency can cause a bunch of health issues.

I've read here that vitamin A can help with tongue issues. Hopefully a more experienced member will chime in on that.